Page 373 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 22 March 2022
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seven days for education settings and 14 days for high-risk settings. International travellers who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the nine weeks prior to their entry into Australia are also no longer required to undergo a COVID-19 test within 24 hours of their arrival into Australia.
Madam Speaker, Check In CBR continues to play an important role in our TTIQ strategy. As of 4 March, the app now sends you a notification if you have checked in to a location around the same time as someone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19. If you receive this message, you should monitor for COVID symptoms and get tested if any develop. These notifications will only be sent if you have checked in at a high-impact location, including registered clubs, licensed bars and pubs, nightclubs, strip clubs and brothels. We continue to ask other businesses and venues, where Check In CBR is no longer mandatory, to keep displaying their QR codes, allowing people to use the app voluntarily to maintain a record of where they have been.
Madam Speaker, as you know, the Chief Health Officer and her team are continuously reviewing current public health social measures to ensure that they are proportionate to the current level of risk. Until late last week, we had seen a fall and then stabilisation in case numbers, indicating a decreased level of risk to the community.
In addition, given the ACT’s porous border with New South Wales, there had also been a need to adjust our settings to align with changes announced by the New South Wales government in order to avoid confusion. This is essential in ensuring compliance. The Chief Health Officer therefore recommended changes to several public health social measures. From 16 February, the government began a program of gradually easing restrictions across a range of areas.
Restrictions on visitors in health facilities have been eased, allowing Canberrans easier access to their loved ones while in hospital. Patients are now able to have two visitors per day. For adult patients, the two visitors must be at different times. However, children and young people admitted to hospital can have two parents or carers visit them at the same time, with one parent or carer permitted to stay with them overnight. Women admitted to hospital for birthing-related care can now have two support people with them.
Visitors to high-risk wards, such as the Canberra Region Cancer Centre, may be asked to undertake a RAT prior to visiting. There are many patients in these wards who have treatment that lowers their immune system response, and it is important to reduce the risk of infection to these vulnerable patients. Compassionate exemptions to these restrictions will continue to be assessed on a case-by-case basis, in consultation with the patient’s care team.
Restricting visitors to healthcare facilities is not a decision that is ever made lightly. While it is important to protect the health and safety of patients and staff, we are conscious of the impact these restrictions have on the community. The government acknowledges the difference it makes to patients when a loved one can be with them while they are in hospital, and the distress caused when this is not possible. We hope that the easing of restrictions has offered some relief to patients and their loved ones.
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